Cleveland Mini Maker Faire 2016 has FREE hands-on fun for everyone! Kids and parents can work together to learn and build things, adults can learn or improve Maker skills of all kinds and everyone can enjoy a day of play, exploration, excitement and just plain fun!

Here’s an overview of the events and activities of the day. Check out the complete program for full information.

* Workshop space is limited. Some workshops may be age-restricted or require children 12 and under to work with a parent/guardian. Check for information at the registration/welcome desk when you arrive at the Mini Maker Faire!

Intellectual Property: If You Make It, Protect It! An introduction to protecting your intellectual property from the Government Documents Department/Patent and Trademark Resource Library at the Cleveland Public Library

These Are the Droids You’re Looking For with the R2 Builders’ Club (Astromech.net)

The Joy of Improvised Electro-Acoustic Music

The 4th Annual Cleveland Mini Maker Faire (CMMF), taking place on November 5 at Cleveland Public Library’s Main Branch, celebrates the Maker Movement – bringing together creators, inventors, crafters and techies who strive to inspire, unite and inform.

CMMF will bring together Makers from all backgrounds and skill sets to showcase why Cleveland is an important part of the Maker Movement and how public libraries can be a natural convener of makers, companies and people who are simply interested in learning more.

One such Maker is Bob Drake, Founder and Creator of Fluxmonkey – Cleveland’s own electro-acoustic musician. We spoke with Drake about electroacoustic music, the joy of collaboration and improvisation, and the value of curiosity and community.

Who/what is Fluxmonkey?“Fluxmonkey is kind of an umbrella project name for various work I do in and around electro-acoustic music: performance, recordings, installations, workshops, printed circuit boards, and custom-made electronic instruments.”

What excites you most about this genre of music?“What I do is primarily improvised electroacoustic music, using original instruments. The instruments I build generally have elements of indeterminacy built into them – not random, but not always knowable in advance. So they essentially become active collaborators with me during performance, surprising and challenging me with unexpected sounds and opportunities to interact. Expanding that situation into an improvised setting, especially with other performers, adds a hear-and-now intensity and interactivity that I find really exciting.”

Why is it important to be a maker?“I personally find working with my hands and making things intrinsically rewarding and satisfying. Being creatively involved with the process of making my own tools/instruments, and knowing not only what they do but how they work, helps me to extend their potential through non-standard techniques and even ‘misuse.’ I also had the good fortune to learn from some generous master craftsmen at a very early age, and I really value the traditions of mentorship and apprenticeship. I think they would appreciate the spirit of shared knowledge and ‘passing it on’ evident in today’s maker communities.

An apropos quote I read in a new book, Experimental Music Since 1970 by Jennie Gottschalk, talking about David Behrman, a pioneer in the area of experimental electronic instruments:

There are two key points here: (1) In Behrmans’s view, making is making, whether it is music or an instrument. The construction of the instrument can be a significant part of the musical process. (2) You don’t have to know what you’re doing. The process and the result are not invalidated by an initial lack of expertise, but can become even more interesting as a result of behaviors that are not fully understood.”

What do you hope people learn/discover at this year’s Mini Maker Faire?“The value of active curiosity and community.”

Bob Drake is a 2016 Creative Workforce Fellow with the Community Partnership for Arts and Culture/Cuyahoga Arts and Culture. Discover more at fluxmonkey.com.

The Maker Movement is made up of creators, inventors, crafters and techies who strive to inspire, unite and inform while celebrating the DIY community. One such Maker is Corey Johnson, Founder and Creator of Art of the Glitch. Johnson’s use of limited tools (most of his equipment is either hand-built or purchased from thrift stores) and techniques to craft glitch work provides a narrow but deep meditation on the relationship between humanity and technology.

We recently spoke with Johnson about glitch art, why people who like to “break things” will find it exhilarating, and the importance of the Maker Movement.

What is glitch art?

“Glitch art is a form of artistic expression that involves the exploitation of errors in systems. My specific form of glitch is commonly referred to as ‘circuit bending,’ which is a process by which an artist creates errors in existing electronics to produce new and interesting visual results.”

What excites you most about glitch art?

“I love glitch because of its accessibility. From the phones in our pockets to antiquated and obsolete technology rotting away in thrift stores and garage sales, glitch is a cheap and user-friendly art form that just about anybody can pick up. All it takes is a desire to break things, and a curiosity to explore the unexpected. The ability to create imagery through the manipulation of electrical current feels like wizardry on a good day.”

What will happen at the Art of the Glitch workshop?

“The workshop will run through the general artistic and political reasons behind the glitch art movement, and then explore three levels/projects of glitch art: an exploit of the panorama function on the iPhone, a simple signal-interruption cord that allows the artist to create static and fractured imagery, and an exploration into more complex circuit-bending techniques.”

Why is it important to be a Maker?

“As a visual artist, ‘Making’ is a natural extension of ‘Thinking.’ Making is the fire that is ignited by the sparks of thought and intention, and allows a greater exploration of artistic possibility. In glitch, so many pre-made, circuit-bent devices can be purchased by many talented Makers in their own right, but I believe that the act of creating those pathways for oneself is a vital part of understanding and discovering the world of glitch art.”

CLEVELAND, OHIO – Northeast Ohio is quickly earning a reputation as a location for creative innovators in the Maker Movement. For the past three years, Cleveland Public Library (CPL) and Ingenuity Cleveland have partnered to bring together both makers of all backgrounds and skill sets and companies at the forefront of the maker movement for the Mini Maker Faire, one of the first of its kind in the region. The Call for Makers is now open! Submit your proposal today to become a part of this exciting event!

“Each year we have seen the Mini Maker Faire grow in participation and attendance, and we see CPL as a vital asset to makers in our region,” said Felton Thomas, director of CPL. “The Mini Maker Faire is a fantastic collaborative effort to showcase why Cleveland is an important part of the maker movement, and how public libraries can be a natural convener of makers, companies, and people who are simply interested in learning more.”

The Maker Movement, made up of creators, inventors, crafters, and techies strives to inspire, unite, and inform while celebrating the DIY community. Last year’s Mini Maker Faire showcased local high school robotics teams, workshops led by the Sears think[box] and Makers Alliance, as well as exhibits from the more artfully-minded, introducing novices and experts alike to new inventions and ideas.

“Ingenuity is thrilled to once again collaborate with the Cleveland Public Library on the fourth annual Cleveland Mini Maker Faire. As the Maker Movement grows in downtown Cleveland and around northeast Ohio, we are seeing ever-stronger connections between education, entrepreneurship, and creativity that hold tremendous promise for individual lives and meaningful impact for our region.” says Ingenuity program director, Emily Appelbaum.

This free event will allow people of all ages to learn, discover, create, and play along with makers and creators from across the region. For more information, explore makerfairecleveland.com. Contact Cleveland Public Library Outreach and Programming Services at OPS@cpl.org or 216-623-2921 with questions.

About Cleveland Public Library

Cleveland Public Library is the place for all Clevelanders to dream, create and grow. CPL serves four million patrons annually at 27 branches across the city, lending more than 6.5 million from a collection of more than 10 million items. CPL library services are also available at the Public Administration Library in City Hall, “The People’s University on Wheels” Bookmobile, Ohio Library for the Blind and Physically Disabled, and the On the Road to Reading literacy van. CPL is the home for the Ohio Center for the Book, and CLEVNET library cooperation.

For more information about Cleveland Public Library, please visit cpl.org.

About Ingenuity Cleveland

Ingenuity highlights the creativity and innovation that make Cleveland a vibrant place to live. We ignite the space where the arts and technology intersect. By animating Cleveland’s urban spaces with world-class experiences, Ingenuity provides a unique platform for exploring the boundaries across these sectors. We do this through our outreach programs, partnerships and events including our annual IngenuityFest.

Ingenuity is now in its 12th season and is funded by the George Gund Foundation, Cuyahoga Arts and Culture, and the Ohio Arts Council as well as many other businesses, non-profits, and private individuals. The three-day IngenuityFest, which currently creates a combined economic impact of $4.5 million to Cleveland’s economy, will return September 23-25, 2016.

Every day our makers are doing cool things outside of the Cleveland Mini Maker Faire. This weekend? Cuyahoga Community College is hosting a Regional 3D Printing and Manufacturing Conference with Magnet THIS Thursday (tomorrow!) and Friday! Interested? Check out the flyer below!

Thank you to everyone who made the Cleveland Mini Maker Faire possible!
We’re heard TONS of good feedback already, from folks who learned how to solder for the first time, to those who saw a sculpture or art piece that transfixed them.

This event is a chance for us to help excite the public about the idea of making and empower them to see themselves as creators. It’s a chance to introduce them to your amazing skills and innovations, and just as importantly, to introduce you to each other. It was a huge success and could not have happened without our volunteers,sponsor, presenters like Scuba Divine Day Club, Sonic Experience, Solder Junkies, Cleveland Digital Publishing Useres Group, ITT Technical Institute, HER Ideas in Motion, Bike Cleveland, Lumaniti Wearable Technology for the Future, Friends’ Competition Robotics Team, Makers’ Alliance , Hathaway Brown School Robotics Team, All Power Solutions Sustainable Wood-Powered Electricity Generation, Soulcraft Woodshop , Juggable Offense, Upcycle Parts Shop, We Can Code It, Lake Erie Boat Float, Guide To Kulchur: Text, Art, and News and so many more!

We are so thankful for sponsors like the Cleveland Public Library, Friends of the Cleveland Public Library, Scence Magazine, Time Warner Cable, Make Magazine, and R3D at Cuyahoga Community College! Without them the Cleveland Mini Maker Faire could not have happened.

We Can Code IT diversifies tech. We bridge the gap for those underrepresented in tech, the same groups susceptible to low to moderate incomes, through education via computer summer camps, computer workshops and adult training in software engineering and web development through coding bootcamps.
Their workshop will be presented this Saturday! Engineer a Rollercoaster in Minecraft or code a basic webpage in HTML and CSS. Don’t worry if you’ve never done it before, we’ll show you how! Minecraft workshops are at 10:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. The HTML and CSS workshop is at 2:30. Sign up for workshops at our booth, or drop in and see if you can get a seat.

Just a few more days until the Cleveland Mini Maker Faire! Here are some of the workshops offered at the faire:

Solar Lanterns Workshop by Steven Gutierrez

Come and learn about how solar panels work and make a solar powered project start-to-finish with your own lantern that will charge during the day and then light up at night automatically! Participants will learn minor soldering and create a lantern with recycled materials. 30 min-1 hr., Ongoing.

National Day of Civic Hacking: Workshops and Activities by Open Cleveland

June 6, 2015 is the National Day of Civic Hacking and Open Cleveland, Cleveland’s Code for America brigade, will introduce people to the idea of civic hacking with simple coding projects and hands-on activities for kids and adults. Ongoing.

RecycleBots DIY Workshop by Doo-Sung Yoo and Andrew Frueh

Kids (7 and up) and their parents will create a toy robot from recycled materials from water bottles to cereal boxes, combined with common low-tech electronic parts like motors and batteries, in order to learn about the fusion of art and science, environmental awareness, and recycling. 1-1.5 hr., Ongoing.

EMG stands for Electromyography, which is the science of measuring muscle neuron activity. You can call it a “muscle sensor.” Participants will learn to solder as they build their own “muscle sensor” which they can rubber-band to their arm to see LED lights glow as they flex their muscles.

Created by think[box], the center for innovation and tinkering at Case Western Reserve University, Created by CWRU Makers Daniel Dichek, Daniel Tan, Nathan Makowski, Ray Krajci, and the students and staff of think[box], with sponsorship by Bird Technologies, The Leonard Gelfand STEM Center at CWRU, Blackstone Launchpad at CWRU and The Burton D. Morgan Foundation. Ongoing.

Yes . . . AND! MC^2 Student Improv Team Workshop

Join the MC^2 Student Improv Team for a comic, improvisational theater demonstration and workshop: Yes . . . AND! a lesson in always saying yes and making more! 1:00 pm.

Create a thrill ride Steve will never forget! Flip those Creepers upside down! Kids ages 8 through 14 learn about electrical engineering and computational thinking concepts while building Rollercoaster in Minecraft using Redstone. Based on the popular Minecraft Amusement Park week-long summer camp series by We Can Code IT, and our Minecraft Amusement Park book to be published in August 2015, kids love creating their own automated rollercoaster! Read about our camps and workshops at WeCanCodeIT.org. 1.5 hour workshop at 10:30 am, 12:30pm, and 2:30pm. First come, first served!

There is still time to volunteer at the Cleveland Mini Maker Faire this Saturday, June 6th, at the Cleveland Public Library! We are in need of volunteers in the 1pm-4pm and 4pm-7pm time slots, sign up today!